1,674 research outputs found
Prospective motion correction of 3D echo-planar imaging data for functional MRI using optical tracking.
We evaluated the performance of an optical camera based prospective motion correction (PMC) system in improving the quality of 3D echo-planar imaging functional MRI data. An optical camera and external marker were used to dynamically track the head movement of subjects during fMRI scanning. PMC was performed by using the motion information to dynamically update the sequence's RF excitation and gradient waveforms such that the field-of-view was realigned to match the subject's head movement. Task-free fMRI experiments on five healthy volunteers followed a 2×2×3 factorial design with the following factors: PMC on or off; 3.0mm or 1.5mm isotropic resolution; and no, slow, or fast head movements. Visual and motor fMRI experiments were additionally performed on one of the volunteers at 1.5mm resolution comparing PMC on vs PMC off for no and slow head movements. Metrics were developed to quantify the amount of motion as it occurred relative to k-space data acquisition. The motion quantification metric collapsed the very rich camera tracking data into one scalar value for each image volume that was strongly predictive of motion-induced artifacts. The PMC system did not introduce extraneous artifacts for the no motion conditions and improved the time series temporal signal-to-noise by 30% to 40% for all combinations of low/high resolution and slow/fast head movement relative to the standard acquisition with no prospective correction. The numbers of activated voxels (p<0.001, uncorrected) in both task-based experiments were comparable for the no motion cases and increased by 78% and 330%, respectively, for PMC on versus PMC off in the slow motion cases. The PMC system is a robust solution to decrease the motion sensitivity of multi-shot 3D EPI sequences and thereby overcome one of the main roadblocks to their widespread use in fMRI studies
Antiferromagnetic Order in Disorder-Induced Insulating Phase of SrRu_{1-x}Mn_xO_3 (0.4<x<0.6)
We have performed the powder neutron diffraction measurements on the solid
solutions of SrRu_{1-x}Mn_xO_3, and found that the itinerant ferromagnetic
order observed in pure SrRuO_3 changes into the C-type antiferromagnetic (AF)
order with nearly localized d electrons in the intermediate Mn concentration
between x=0.4 and 0.6. With increasing x, the AF moment is strongly enhanced
from 1.1 mB (x=0.4) to 2.6 mB (x=0.6), which is accompanied by the elongation
of the tetragonal c/a ratio. These results suggest that the substitution of Mn
for Ru suppresses the itinerant character of the d electrons, and induces the
superexchange interaction through the compression in the c plane. We have also
found that the magnetic and transport properties observed in our tetragonal
samples are quite similar to those of recently reported orthorhombic ones.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Mitigating susceptibility-induced distortions in high-resolution 3DEPI fMRI at 7T
Geometric distortion is a major limiting factor for spatial specificity in high-resolution fMRI using EPI readouts and is exacerbated at higher field strengths due to increased B0 field inhomogeneity. Prominent correction schemes are based on B0 field-mapping or acquiring reverse phase-encoded (reversed-PE) data. However, to date, comparisons of these techniques in the context of fMRI have only been performed on 2DEPI data, either at lower field or lower resolution. In this study, we investigate distortion compensation in the context of sub-millimetre 3DEPI data at 7T. B0 field-mapping and reversed-PE distortion correction techniques were applied to both partial coverage BOLD-weighted and whole brain MT-weighted 3DEPI data with matched distortion. Qualitative assessment showed overall improvement in cortical alignment for both correction techniques in both 3DEPI fMRI and whole-brain MT-3DEPI datasets. The distortion-corrected MT-3DEPI images were quantitatively evaluated by comparing cortical alignment with an anatomical reference using dice coefficient (DC) and correlation ratio (CR) measures. These showed that B0 field-mapping and reversed-PE methods both improved correspondence between the MT-3DEPI and anatomical data, with more substantial improvements consistently obtained using the reversed-PE approach. Regional analyses demonstrated that the largest benefit of distortion correction, and in particular of the reversed-PE approach, occurred in frontal and temporal regions where susceptibility-induced distortions are known to be greatest, but had not led to complete signal dropout. In conclusion, distortion correction based on reversed-PE data has shown the greater capacity for achieving faithful alignment with anatomical data in the context of high-resolution fMRI at 7T using 3DEPI
EQUIP training the trainers: an evaluation of a training programme for service users and carers involved in training mental health professionals in user-involved care planning
This is the version of record of the following article: Fraser, C and Grundy, A and Meade, O and Callaghan, P and Lovell, K (2017) EQUIP training the trainers: an evaluation of a training programme for service users and carers involved in training mental health professionals in user-involved care planning. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 24 (6). pp. 367-376. which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpm.12361/full This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving."
Introduction:Limited evidence exists on service user and carer perceptions of under-taking a training course for delivering care planning training to qualified mental health professionals. We know little about trainee motivations for engaging with such train the trainers courses, experiences of attending courses and trainees’ subsequent experiences of co delivering training to health professionals, hence the current study.Aim:To obtain participants’ views on the suitability and acceptability of a training programme that aimed to prepare service users and carers to co deliver train-ing to health professionals.Method:Semi-structured interviews with nine service users and carers attending the training programme. Transcripts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.Results:Participants’ reasons for attending training included skill development and making a difference to mental health practice.Course content was generally rated highly but may benefit from review and/or extension to allow the range of topics and resulting professional training programme to be covered in more depth. Trainees who delivered the care planning training reported a mix of expectations, support experiences, preparedness and personal impacts.Implications for Practice:Mental health nurses are increasingly co producing and delivering training with service users and carers. This study identifies possibilities and pitfalls in this endeavour, highlighting areas where user and carer involvement and support structures might be improved in order to fully realize the potential for involvement in training
Penetration depth, multiband superconductivity, and absence of muon-induced perturbation in superconducting PrOsSb
Transverse-field muon spin rotation (SR) experiments in the
heavy-fermion superconductor PrOsSb ( K) suggest that
the superconducting penetration depth is temperature-independent
at low temperatures, consistent with a gapped quasiparticle excitation
spectrum. In contrast, radiofrequency (rf) inductive measurements yield a
stronger temperature dependence of , indicative of point nodes in
the gap. This discrepancy appears to be related to the multiband structure of
PrOsSb. Muon Knight shift measurements in PrOsSb
suggest that the perturbing effect of the muon charge on the neighboring
Pr crystalline electric field is negligibly small, and therefore is
unlikely to cause the difference between the SR and rf results.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Transcranial direct current stimulation with functional magnetic resonance imaging: a detailed validation and operational guide [version 1; peer review: 1 approved with reservations]
Introduction: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique used to modulate human brain and behavioural function in both research and clinical interventions. The combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with tDCS enables researchers to directly test causal contributions of stimulated brain regions, answering questions about the physiology and neural mechanisms underlying behaviour. Despite the promise of the technique, advances have been hampered by technical challenges and methodological variability between studies, confounding comparability/replicability. /
Methods: Here tDCS-fMRI at 3T was developed for a series of experiments investigating language recovery after stroke. To validate the method, one healthy volunteer completed an fMRI paradigm with three conditions: (i) No-tDCS, (ii) Sham-tDCS, (iii) 2mA Anodal-tDCS. MR data were analysed in SPM12 with region-of-interest (ROI) analyses of the two electrodes and reference sites. /
Results: Quality assessment indicated no visible signal dropouts or distortions introduced by the tDCS equipment. After modelling scanner drift, motion-related variance, and temporal autocorrelation, we found no field inhomogeneity in functional sensitivity metrics across conditions in grey matter and in the three ROIs. /
Discussion: Key safety factors and risk mitigation strategies that must be taken into consideration when integrating tDCS into an fMRI environment are outlined. To obtain reliable results, we provide practical solutions to technical challenges and complications of the method. It is hoped that sharing these data and SOP will promote methodological replication in future studies, enhancing the quality of tDCS-fMRI application, and improve the reliability of scientific results in this field. /
Conclusions: The method and data provided here provide a technically safe, reliable tDCS-fMRI procedure to obtain high quality MR data. The detailed framework of the Standard Operation Procedure SOP (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4606564) systematically reports the technical and procedural elements of our tDCS-fMRI approach, which we hope can be adopted and prove useful in future studies
The Johnson-Segalman model with a diffusion term in Couette flow
We study the Johnson-Segalman (JS) model as a paradigm for some complex
fluids which are observed to phase separate, or ``shear-band'' in flow. We
analyze the behavior of this model in cylindrical Couette flow and demonstrate
the history dependence inherent in the local JS model. We add a simple gradient
term to the stress dynamics and demonstrate how this term breaks the degeneracy
of the local model and prescribes a much smaller (discrete, rather than
continuous) set of banded steady state solutions. We investigate some of the
effects of the curvature of Couette flow on the observable steady state
behavior and kinetics, and discuss some of the implications for metastability.Comment: 14 pp, to be published in Journal of Rheolog
Structural and magnetic aspects of the metal insulator transition in CaSrRuO
The phase diagram of CaSrRuO has been studied by neutron
diffraction on powder and single-crystalline samples. The experiments reveal
antiferromagnetic order and structural distortions characterized by tilts and
rotations of the RuO-octahedra. There is strong evidence that the
structural details of the isovalent samples tune the magnetic as well as the
electronic behavior. In particular we observe for low Sr-concentration a metal
insulator transition associated with a structural change and magnetic ordering
Transport Properties, Thermodynamic Properties, and Electronic Structure of SrRuO3
SrRuO is a metallic ferromagnet. Its electrical resistivity is reported
for temperatures up to 1000K; its Hall coefficient for temperatures up to 300K;
its specific heat for temperatures up to 230K. The energy bands have been
calculated by self-consistent spin-density functional theory, which finds a
ferromagnetic ordered moment of 1.45 per Ru atom. The measured
linear specific heat coefficient is 30mJ/mole, which exceeds the
theoretical value by a factor of 3.7. A transport mean free path at room
temperature of is found. The resistivity increases nearly
linearly with temperature to 1000K in spite of such a short mean free path that
resistivity saturation would be expected. The Hall coefficient is small and
positive above the Curie temperature, and exhibits both a low-field and a
high-field anomalous behavior below the Curie temperature.Comment: 6 pages (latex) and 6 figures (postscript, uuencoded.) This paper
will appear in Phys. Rev. B, Feb. 15, 199
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